For asperger's, substance abuse is definitely linked to making us feel better than if we were sober and having to feel the full force of our alienation. I drank to take the edge off of having anxiety. Then I thought it'd open me up in "sober" places, like school and everyday hangouts. It didn't. I just made myself physically ill and addicted.

In Drinking: A Love Story, Caroline Knapp writes that writers are many times inclined to have a tight relationship with alcohol and drink while they write because drinking accesses parts of the brain that you can't while sober. Even if it isn't writing, you access something that you can't while sober. That's plain to see.

It's hard with weed because instead of being peer pressured (which many people deny happens because they're individuals and don't need no man), one can find oneself wanting what they have. The stoners. Weed truly helps them and you want that help too, but you can't have it because it makes you paranoid and anxious and it's not for you. Sometimes you gotta remember to "just say no."